Red Sox Owner Beats The Market

It's been a rough go for Red Sox owner John Henry, as the team winning championships in 2004 and 2007 might have been the only thing that kept him sane.

He made his fortune at John W. Henry & Co., a hedge fund that specialized in commodities and futures, but his system let him down in recent years and the $2.5 billion under management plunged.

But, very quietly, John Henry had apparently had a great year in 2008, as the rest of the economic world started hurting. The S&P 500 posted its third worst year ever, down 38.49 percent. The Dow was down 33.8 percent for the year, its biggest decline since 1931. Meanwhile, John Henry's funds were counting the cash.

The chart below has the numbers for his funds through November, which is the latest update we have. Maybe the Red Sox could have afforded Mark Teixeira after all.